Devices, systems and methods are disclosed which relate to allowing a recipient of a closed-loop gift card to select one of a number of merchants toward which to apply the value. A consumer buys a variable gift card from a service provider for a set amount, pays the service provider that amount, and the service provider holds that amount in escrow. The consumer sends the gift card to a recipient with a predetermined merchant. The recipient receives the gift card and decides to switch the gift card from the predetermined merchant to a desired merchant. The recipient requests the service provider to change the merchant, and the service provider delivers the amount from escrow to the desired merchant. If the recipient does desire to use the predetermined merchant, the recipient contacts the service provider for activation and the service provider transfers the amount to the predetermined merchant.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method comprising: transmitting by a server comprising a processor, a variable gift card to a mobile device operated by a recipient, the variable gift card comprising a first amount that is held in an escrow account, the variable gift card being associated with a predetermined merchant; receiving a bid from a competing merchant in competition with the predetermined merchant, the bid including a second amount greater than the first amount and being offered to the recipient along with an identification of the competing merchant; receiving an acceptance of the bid from the recipient, the acceptance of the bid being subject to a restriction placed by a purchaser of the variable gift card, the restriction comprising one or more of a type of merchant and a prohibited merchant; associating the gift card with the competing merchant and increasing the first amount on the gift card to the second amount; and transferring the first amount from the escrow account to the competing merchant.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising alerting the purchaser of a gift card use.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined merchant is selected from a plurality of merchants.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the competing merchant is selected from the plurality of merchants.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the restriction is placed when transmitting the gift card to the recipient.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising converting the variable gift card to a reloadable gift card.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising converting the variable gift card to an open-loop gift card.
8. A system comprising: a gift card server comprising a processor; and a computer-readable medium in communication with the gift card server, the computer-readable medium storing instructions that are executed by the gift card server to perform operations comprising: transmitting a gift card to a recipient mobile device, the gift card comprising a first amount and associated with a predetermined merchant, the first amount being held in an escrow account; receiving a bid from a competing merchant, the bid including a second amount greater than the first amount and being offered to the recipient mobile device along with an identification of the competing merchant; receiving an acceptance of the bid from the recipient, the acceptance of the bid being subject to a restriction placed by a purchaser of the gift card, the restriction comprising one or more of a type of merchant and a prohibited merchant; associating the gift card with the competing merchant; increasing the first amount on the gift card to the second amount; and transferring the first amount from the escrow account to the competing merchant.
9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the recipient mobile device is in communication with the gift card server over a wireless connection.
10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the restriction is placed when the gift card is transmitted to the recipient mobile device.
11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the restriction is stored on a gift card database.
12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the bid is received from a merchant server associated with the competing merchant.
13. A computer readable medium storing executable instructions that are executed by a processor to perform operations comprising: transmitting, by a server comprising a processor, a variable gift card to a mobile device operated by a recipient, the variable gift card comprising a first amount that is held in an escrow account, the variable gift card being associated with a predetermined merchant; receiving a bid from a competing merchant in competition with the predetermined merchant, the bid including a second amount greater than the first amount and being offered to the recipient along with an identification of the competing merchant; receiving an acceptance of the bid from the recipient, the acceptance of the bid being subject to a restriction placed by a purchaser of the variable gift card, the restriction comprising one or more of a type of merchant and a specific merchant; associating the variable gift card with the competing merchant; increasing the first amount on the variable gift card to the second amount; and transferring the first amount from the escrow account to the competing merchant.
14. The computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the operations further comprise alerting the consumer of a gift card use once the variable gift card has been used by the recipient.
15. The computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the predetermined merchant is selected from a plurality of merchants.
16. The computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the competing merchant is selected from the plurality of merchants.
17. The computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the restriction is placed when transmitting the gift card to the recipient.
18. The computer readable medium of claim 13 , further comprising converting the variable gift card to a reloadable gift card.
19. The computer readable medium of claim 13 , further comprising converting the variable gift card to an open-loop gift card.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
November 10, 2009
May 7, 2013
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